


Pretty Vile

by Anonymous



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Dysfunctional Relationships, Emetophobes maybe give this a miss, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Maylor - Freeform, Sickfic, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 05:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Roger and Brian have a complicated friendship. It's just a shame they can't stop fighting for long enough to share their feelings.





	Pretty Vile

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really have anything to say about this except that it's just a small one shot about maylor being complicated and dysfunctional and slightly ooc 💖 I'll be honest it's been a hot minute since I last wrote m/m (or anything involving men I suppose) and my previous relationships have all been... Not exactly healthy? So that's why Brian and Roger are a wreck here.
> 
> OH and it's 1am where I am which explains why parts of this may not make sense.

Roger’s not sure why he’s surprised that Brian’s getting angry with him. This is how things always go when they’re together; either they’re getting on like a house on fire- almost completely in tune with one another's thoughts and feelings and actions- or they’re at each other’s throats in a way that means only Freddie and John can break them apart. Often it seems like their friendship doesn’t have a middle ground. On good days they bring out the best in each other, but on days like today all they seem to be able to do is fight. 

“Rog why can’t you just play it like I’m suggesting?” Brian’s rubbing the bridge of his nose and his growing irritation is audible. To be fair to him they’ve been at this for far too long, and the strain of it is certainly getting to the astrophysicist, but right now Roger’s too tired to care. It’s the end of a long day and Brian’s being unnecessarily pedantic for no real reason considering this is only a practice.

Roger twirls a drumstick idly in his hand “Because I don’t want to”

“Why not?” Pushes Brian.

“Because” He doesn’t have the energy to explain why the changes he’s suggesting are stupid. It should be obvious. 

“For fucks sake. Is this about the key change? For the last time, the key change stays. I don’t care if you don’t like it”

“No it’s not about the key change, it’s about the fact that the song is fine how it is. If I do whatever it is you want me to do then the whole rhythm's going to be… I don’t know. Messed up” 

Brian glares at him, folding his arms “That’s not a reason Roger. Look, why are you being such a prick?”

Even though he knows he shouldn't provoke him further Roger can't help it “For the same reason you’re being a hypocrite I guess”

“Oh fuck off with that. I'm not being a hypocrite, I’m-“

Almost as soon as the guitarist opens his mouth Roger deliberately tunes out, shifting his attention to Freddie and John who’ve been watching them fight with bemused interest. The drummer can’t exactly hear their conversation but he’s getting the gist of it-

“I say we leave them to it. Do you think they’d notice if we started playing without them?” 

“We can’t play with just a bassist and a singer”

“I don’t know, it might sound quite good. We could form an experimental duo” A little louder Freddie then says “Do you hear that? We’re breaking away from you. We’re starting a new band with just the two of us”

“We could call it Prince” Adds John 

“Ooh I like that” 

-Brian’s voice cuts irritatingly through their antics “Roger are you even listening to me?”

Roger reluctantly switches his attention back to Brian with a scowl “No. No I’m not. Is that a problem?” 

Brian throws his hands up “I swear you’re actually impossible. I know it’s difficult but for once do you think you could give a shit about something? Just once that’s all I’m asking” 

The look on Brian’s face is one of badly concealed rage. He’s waiting for Roger to give him an excuse to lose his temper. He doesn’t want to be the first one to lose control, and on any other day Roger might give in to the temptation to give him the satisfaction, but all he can muster is a feeling of irritable resignation. He’s too exhausted and he's had enough. 

“Oh piss off” He gets out from behind the kit and makes his way decidedly to the door. If Brian’s going to be a pissy bitch about this then he’s not staying to hear it. 

“Where are you going?” Asks Freddie, him and John finally deciding to intervene.

“Home. I’m done for today” Roger swipes his jacket and his house keys from where he'd left them discarded on the floor and doesn’t look back when behind him Brian snarks- 

“Storming off because you aren’t getting your own way? That’s very mature. Very adult. John, Freddie? You’re both ok with just letting him leave are you?” 

“I think so” Says John, unbothered as usual. 

“We’re not going to get anything else done today, not with you two like this” Agrees Freddie “I suggest we say fuck this and go to the pub”

Roger doesn't get to hear if John or Brian have any strong opinions on Freddie's suggestion because it’s here that he opens the door to the practice studio and leaves, making sure to slam it behind him just to annoy Brian. It’s like getting the last word in, and when it comes to his fights with Brian getting the last word in feels especially important. 

Outside it's cold for an April afternoon. Roger pulls his jacket tighter around him and begins heading home, knowing that his bandmates are wise enough to give him some space when he's like this. It’s a short walk back to their shared house, but it’s made unusually hard today by the fact that something feels off. It’s not just him feeling tired anymore, the further he walks the more it becomes like a lethargy. His limbs are aching and there’s an uncomfortable tight feeling in his guts that means he has no interest in food when he gets back to their house, so he ends up skipping dinner and going to bed early. It’s not that late, but he’s a uni student, so he’s used to keeping weird hours. 

How long his nap lasts he has no idea, but when he wakes up feeling absolutely sick to his stomach it's unexpectedly dark outside. He feels disoriented and confused, and he’s got no obvious way to gauge what time it is, or if his housemates are back or what's going on. Stumbling out of bed he makes his way slowly to the bathroom, cringing when he feels his mouth fill with bile and a chill start to fully settle on his skin. The cold tiles of the bathroom floor provide some temporary relief, but pretty quickly he finds himself kneeling by the toilet, fighting through bouts of dry retching while vaguely hoping none of his housemates wake up and see him like this. 

“Roger?” As usual his hopes go ignored by the universe. In the doorway stands Brian, wrapped in a dressing gown and squinting in the brightness of the bathroom light “Shit… You look terrible”

“Thanks” Roger’s sarcastic even though he knows it must be true. No one’s ever managed to make kneeling over the toilet in the middle of the night look good. 

“Are you ok?” There's an understandable tentativeness in the guitarists words, given that he has no idea if Roger's going to accept his help or tell him to piss off again. 

“Yes Brian. That’s why I’m on the floor” Roger's reply comes out harsher than he'd intended it to. It's difficult to be polite in a situation like this. 

“Shit” Repeats Brian “What’s wrong?”

Roger shakes his head as much as he can with how nauseous he is “Don’t know. Just feel kind of sick” 

“More than kind of sick by the looks of it” Says Brian sympathetically. The taller man comes closer, sitting down beside Roger and placing a comforting hand on his back “Christ, you’re sweating like crazy”

“Hm” Roger's about to suggest that he might have caught the stomach bug going round the medical student society at the moment, but then he’s hit by another retching fit, one that unfortunately results in Brian having to hold his hair back while his lunch makes an unwanted reappearance. The ordeal is painful and he doesn’t really have a choice except to let it happen, but at the very least Brian’s hand on his back is something of a comfort. 

When it’s over he sits back and wipes his mouth with his hand. He’s still shaking but he feels better now it’s over. 

While he gets his breath back he's aware that Brian's watching him with a strange look on his face. It almost looks like guilt. 

“You know..." Says the guitarist slowly "I don’t have to stay if you don’t want me to” 

“What? Why wouldn’t I want you to?” Roger frowns. Typical Brian. An arsehole in some contexts and a gentleman in others.

Brian looks confused “The last time I saw you you told me to piss off”

“And you once told me to go fuck myself with Deaky’s bass, but I still live with… oh fuck” Roger doesn’t get to finish his sentence as another attack of nausea sends him back over to the toilet bowl. Again it's exhausting, but he still has the energy when the retching subsides to ask “I’m currently puking my brains out and you think my biggest concern is some fight we had over a drum beat?”

“Fair enough” Brian smiles, rubbing his back gently “Are you done?”

Roger presses a hand experimentally to his abdomen, grimacing slightly “Probably not. But I’m bored of the floor” 

“Right. My room or yours?” Brian stands up and holds a hand out to him. It's a question that means very little to the drummer, who now just wants to go to a bed and doesn’t care about the specific semantics of who the bed actually belongs to. 

“Don’t care” 

“Mine it is then” Brian hoists him to his feet and helps him shakily make his way out of the bathroom. 

Once in Brian’s room Roger gratefully sinks down onto the bed and lets the taller man readjust the blankets and pillows around him so that he’s more comfortable. And then when he starts shivering without hesitation Brian lends him his dressing gown, before he himself sits down on the edge of the bed and rubs the blonde’s shoulder gently “You look exhausted” He says affectionately “You should try to sleep” 

Roger swallows. He understands that he probably ought to, only at the moment he’s still too queasy and shaken to be tired “I know. But I don’t think I can right now” 

Brian nods “That's ok. Is there anything I can do that’d make you feel better?” 

The drummer ponders the question. A sad part of him wants to ask Brian if he can get out his guitar, because he didn’t get to hear him play properly in the studio before they began arguing, and because he knows it’ll be soothing, but he isn’t sure how late it is and he doesn’t want to wake the rest of the house. 

“We could talk” He says eventually “About this afternoon. Only because it might take my mind off it”  
"Are we sure we want to reopen that discussion?" Behind Brian’s smile the hesitation is evident in his voice. But this is how it always works between them; They fight and then they feel bad about it and then they talk things out and they go back to being inseparable. 

Roger nods "Yeah. I am” 

“Alright. Move over then” 

Roger obligingly shifts so there’s space for Brian to join him, and then when the brunette is comfortable he cuddles up close to him, resting his head on the other man's shoulder with a contented hum as he says “Go on then, why did you get so angry with me?” 

“I don’t even know. I just… I don’t understand why you can’t play the parts the way I wrote them” Despite what he’s saying there isn’t malice in his words, only honesty. 

“And I don’t understand why you don’t understand that I know the drums better than you do. You write good music Bri, but it’s like you don’t get that the rest of us do too” As Roger speaks he’s aware of Brian running a hand comfortingly through his hair, and he can feel the tension inside him start to seep away. 

“That sounds fair” Says Brian “In that case… I don’t understand why I get so obsessive. But when it comes to the music it-” 

“And I don’t understand why you’re having a party without us. Shame on you” Freddie's unexpected interruption is accompanied by the bedroom light switching on, and Roger has to shield his eyes from the sudden glare that doesn’t exactly make him feel worse but isn't doing anything to make him feel better either. When his vision finally adjusts he sees that Freddie’s accompanied by John, both of them clad in pyjamas but neither looking particularly sleepy, suggesting that regardless of what time it is neither of them have been to bed. 

“It’s not exactly a party Fred” Replies Brian 

"Well what else could you possibly be doing at this time of night? Except for the obvious of course, but if you two were shagging I'm pretty sure we'd know by now" He grins. 

Meanwhile John has taken Brian’s former place at the end of the bed, and looks Roger up and down suspiciously before stating in a matter of fact manner “You look terrible” 

“Thanks” The drummer’s not used to having his appearance criticised, but tonight it’s something of a reoccuring theme. 

Freddie peers at him “He’s right, you look absolutely dreadful. What’s wrong dear?”

“Nothing. I’m fine” Roger doesn’t want to relive the gory details of the last hour or so, not when he thinks he’s finally managed to bring his nausea under control.

“He’s lying” Says Brian “He was heaving his intestines up less than twenty minutes ago”

In an instant John’s off the bed and moving away from Roger, shooting him an almost apologetic "No offence" As an afterthought that isn’t as sincere as it ought to be. 

Although he’s less conspicuous about it Freddie too backs away, pulling a sympathetic face. 

Roger sighs. He can’t be offended because he knows that if the roles were reversed he’d probably be doing the same. “None taken. I'm probably contagious anyway" 

Three sets of eyes drift to Brian, who's still letting the blonde use him as a pillow.

A beat passes “Would it be mean to put both of you in quarantine?” Asks Freddie eventually, laughing even though he’s likely only half joking. 

Him and John don’t stick around for much longer after that, both going to great lengths to explain how although they definitely feel sorry for Roger neither of them love him enough to catch stomach flu for him, particularly when Brian already seems to have volunteered himself for the role of nurse. 

Grateful for the quiet and the dark (since luckily Freddie remembers to turn the light off) that their departure brings, Roger starts to feel his body wind down. The pain in his guts is subsiding to a dull ache and his eyelids are growing heavy... and he’s almost asleep when out of nowhere Brian says ”Look Rog, I’m sorry about earlier” 

“Really?” Roger yawns “Brian you’re letting me sleep in your bed even though I’m definitely going to get you sick- that’s an apology on its own” 

”I know but, shit it was still a dick thing to do. I should’ve known something was off” He sounds pitifully remorseful. 

Roger cuddles closer to him, slumping into a more comfortable position for sleeping “Oh don’t be like that. Even I didn’t know I was sick, so there’s no way you could’ve done. And sick or not I was being an uncooperative shit, if I were you I’d have been annoyed at me too” 

“Well when you put it like that” Chuckles Brian softly “You know what, when you’re not being a total prick you’re not so bad”

“That’s nice. When you’re not being a pedantic dick you’re my favourite person in this house”

“Really?”

“Yep. I’d even say you’re my favourite person period” Even in his now half asleep state he means it. Roger may get along better with Freddie and John as a general rule, but he doesn't click with anyone the way he clicks with Brian. That said he's now content with letting himself be taken by sleep. But again, just as he's about to drift off he's interrupted by Brian, who mutters

“I love you” 

“Hm?” Roger wakes up a little, not sure if he’s heard correctly. Not that he minds, he's just confused because it seems out of character for the guitarist. 

Then as he's waiting for further elaboration Brian confirms his assertion by planting a kiss on his forehead. 

“Oh” Says Roger. For a second he doesn’t really know what to think or feel or do. He’s not sure if he should take the kiss as something friendly, or romantic or as something done on impulse. It seems unlikely that it'd be romantic, given the location, but then again it was proceeded by "I love you" So with that in mind he really has no idea. 

Neither does Brian by the sounds of things, who jumps in with a panicked “Sorry, I don’t know why I”

Roger cuts him off tiredly “Don’t” 

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-” There’s a note of panic in Brian’s voice that almost makes Roger want to laugh with how absurd this is. 

“I’m not mad Bri. I just mean you’ll… I mean we don’t have to deal with this now” In the moments he’s had to think about it he’s decided that for whatever it means, he liked the kiss. It had made him feel safe and secure and something else, but it’s been a long enough day as it is and he’s pretty sure if they try to talk about it they’ll find a way to ruin it. 

“We could just never speak of it again” Murmurs the other man, prompting the drummer to roll his eyes. 

“I didn’t say that” He replies “Look, I’m tired and I’m sick and I don’t want to deal with this right now. Lets just… I don’t know” He pulls Brian’s arm around him, fumbling in the dark until his hand is entwined with the other mans. He doesn’t know if this has any wider significance for their relationship, but for now he’s happy to leave things be. He’s content enough for them to be together in the dark without having to make a big deal out of it. They can talk about it tomorrow. 

“Fuck…” Apparently Brian isn't as ready to let it go as Roger though “You told me to piss off less than twelve hours ago” He says quietly, trying to piece his own actions together like the science student he is.

“Yep. I did. And I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up” Murmurs Roger, curling up closer to him and closing his eyes. However before he falls asleep he makes a point of adding a sleepy “You’re an idiot, but I love you too”

**Author's Note:**

> Hurting Roger is my new way of trying to cope with my existential OCD. Ahaha anyway I took inspiration for the kissing scene from a friend of mine who did a similar thing to me before totally freaking out and apologising profusely. To this day I have no idea why she did it but I really didn't mind xx Regardless thank you for reading 💗 I hope you enjoyed x


End file.
